Champions League winners and losers draw again: How the fortunes of the tournament have changed
UEFA had a case on Monday with the Champions League draw and the flaws that plagued it. The European regulator was forced to rescind the original result and start over three hours later, sparking a flurry of discussion about how the previous result, now nullified compared with new, confirmed results.
Many teams will be pleased with the new matchups, while others will no doubt be furious at how it all turned out.
Here’s a quick rundown of how the teams performed and the storylines we’ve gained and lost.
THAN: Mistakes that led to the Champions League re-draw
Winner of the Champions League re-draw
1. Bayern Munich
The six-time champions initially drew Atletico Madrid, which was certainly a contributing factor to the Spanish side’s anger over how the original draw played out.
After the redraw, Bayern will meet RB Salzburg, a significantly more favorable task. Not only is the new rival far behind in terms of pedigree, but the trip is considerably shorter, with Munich and Salzburg less than two hours apart by car compared to an all-air flight to Madrid. This is a bold victory for the Bavarian team.
2. Chelsea
The Blues were the team to benefit from the only repeat draw, once again knocking out French side Lille. It is so and Chelsea won’t be upset about it at all. Lille top their table, but that comes with a slight asterisk as it is the group that is easiest to compete against with RB Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg. Defensive champions represent a real threat to repeat as winners, and they don’t need to cough up an initial light match.
THAN: Full results of Monday draw and Champions League final
3. Juventus
Like Chelsea, Juve had an initial friendly draw, with Sporting CP. When redrawn, the Italian side will face Villarreal, who are currently 13th in the La Liga table and only qualified for the knockout stages against stunning Atalanta on the final day.
There are no easy matches in the knockout stages, but Juve will count themselves lucky not to come up with a more difficult scenario.
Champions League draw the losers
1. Real Madrid
Los Blancos are the obvious losers in this whole mess. Club president Florentino Perez will be furious that his side have gone from their initial draw against Portugal’s Benfica to now drawing with PSG.
GIVE ADVICE: Real Madrid conquers the royal family by re-drawing
Instead of a simple trip to Portugal against the third-placed team of the Premeira Liga, Los Merengues was forced to reunite with Lionel Messi and old friend Sergio Ramos. Noisy.
2. Liverpool
Bayern Munich gain but Liverpool lose. Jurgen Klopp’s side were prepared to host RB Salzburg after an initial draw, which saw the Reds face off against the first team from Austria to reach the knockout stages.
With the teams being sent back to the pitchers for a re-draw, Liverpool came out against Inter Milan. With a much tougher claim for Liverpool now confirmed, the Reds will consider themselves unlucky to be wiped out in the first game.
3. UEFA
That is not a good look for the European regulator. An extremely simple coding question became an international incident and although UEFA blamed a third-party supplier, there was no way to get rid of the egg on the face. It’s hard to imagine an organization with UEFA’s resources to take on such a simple task and go horribly wrong. But here we are.
The stories we’ve lost
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
It’s a compelling first storyline as anyone could ask for, and it was brutally taken away by us thanks to the redraw. These two face on December 8, 2020 with Ronaldo scoring a brace in Juventus’ 3-0 group stage win over Barcelona. Fans will feel cheated here, but there’s still a chance we can watch the match later in the competition.
Ajax meets Champions League winners
Ajax were the biggest surprise of the group stage, leading Group C with 18 points from six games, scoring 20 goals and conceding just five. The surprisingly dangerous Dutch side were initially held to a draw by Inter. Milan, and it will be interesting to see them play against a real Champions League contender. But in the re-draw, they will meet Portugal’s Benfica.
Should Ajax pass that test, fans can hope to see the Dutch side take on a tougher opponent in the quarter-finals to test their Champions League ambitions. This can be a club that causes serious havoc, like they did in the 2018-19 season when they reached the semi-finals.
The stories we have achieved
Sergio Ramos & Lionel Messi vs. Real Madrid
PSG’s draw with Real Madrid is clearly the earliest match of a re-draw. Former Blancos captain Ramos has only made one Ligue 1 appearance this season due to a calf injury, but unless it becomes a much bigger problem, he should be fit to face the club. old by the time February has passed.
Now teamed with Lionel Messi, it would be intriguing if Ramos applied his usual villainous tactics against a club for which he has made 671 appearances – especially against his former team-mate. longtime Karim Benzema – or if he steps back from the limelight. Messi has always been a regular thorn in the side of Los Blancos, scoring 26 goals and assisting 14 in 45 games in all competitions.
Man City’s Portuguese stars vs. Sporting CP
Several Manchester City players have substantial histories for the Portuguese champions, such as Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Ederson who all played for rivals Benfica earlier in their careers, ensuring they’ll get their hands on it. a cold welcome in Lisbon.
Dias has been hugely successful against Sporting, winning five and losing just one of his nine games with Sporting while with Benfica, even scoring once in a 4-2 win in the 2018-19 season. Ederson has kept a clean sheet in one of his three appearances against Sporting, while Bernardo Silva was a Manchester United player before he could feature against the Portuguese.
